"The G... The Growth and Development" drops March 5. ST, Huntsville's premier rapper and former
member of the duo G-Side, called from the cozy confines of his Cadillac CTS to
give us a track-by-track breakdown of the LP, which will be available via
outlets including iTunes and amazon.com.

In addition to longtime hip-hop faves like Scarface, lately
ST has been digging bands such as Fun and Tame Impala. "Where they're going
with their music is crazy," he says.

"World Blow II"

"That's kind of a continuation to the intro on (G-Side's 'The
ONE...) Cohesive' album," ST says. "There was another intro originally (on 'The G...
The Growth and Development'), but these beats came about, and we just ended up
changing the whole sequence of the album. And we ended up adding four or five
more songs off of the strength of that intro.

"Originally it was on sampling issues, and that was only on
about three records maybe. And this record came about very organically. We were
just banging out tracks. I felt like this new intro – and the old intro
didn't have a sample, it was fine – was more representative of where I was at
this moment, especially because we didn't get to do it months ago. We had to do
it crunch time because of sampling issues. We always do our best work when our
back's against the wall. It was no exception this time."

"Trillmatic"

"This album is my first solo album. It's my 'Illmatic' (Nas'
1994 bow); it's my 'Reasonable Doubt' (Jay-Z's 1996 debut). We blended that
East Coast sound with the down South sound."

"Green Light
District"

"It's got a double meaning because the hook says, 'The
grinding never stopping, so I ain't never stopping,'and never stopping ... green
lights, you know, 'Go.' And then in Amsterdam there's a Green Light District, and
we all know what goes on there."

"Ocean GMIX"

"Good story to this one. CP, the CEO of Slow Motion Soundz and
the (production collective) Block Beattaz, he was in Sweden and heard this
lovely girl sing this beautiful song in a club, so random, very few people
there. But it was so crazy he went in and asked the girl if we could do a remix
of it and put it on our album and she said yes. And when I got it, I just knew
there was something special about this song. I call it the American Express
commercial because it just sounds like it's supposed to be on TV somewhere or
in a movie. It's just a huge song. There's a video coming for it before the
album drops."

"Ridin Slo"

"The hook says, 'We were all messed up and now we're sitting
on top of the world.' It's just about not being satisfied with your current situation
and trying to elevate."

"Get One"

"It's a party song. It was originally called 'October 20'
because that's the day we did it on, which happens to be my birthday. And we
had a great time in the studio, we had a party in the studio and to me that's a
'party on' record. Like (G-Side's) old 'Starshipz & Rocketz' tracks."

"Not a Luv Song"

"That's the first song that I ever wrote to a particular
female and I had a little bit too much pride to say it's a love song."

"Wasted Youth"

"I heard a quote from one of my hommies: 'Youth is wasted on
the young.' That makes so much sense. If we would have known what we know now,
the places we would have been and the things we would have done. That song's
about growing up and growing out of the old mentalities that you had when you
were a youth."

"Lighthouse"

"'Lighthouse' is kind of a segue or an interlude. It's got
some dope guitar – one of those mellow moments you let play and you zone out
and it puts you in this other place."

"Flashlight"

"It is probably my favorite song on the whole album. The
message is about if I were to leave today and be reincarnated, I'd like to come
back as a flashlight so that I could shine a light and lead somebody somewhere
positive."

"Blinderz"

"We sampled some of our hommies out of Seattle, Geographer,
you should check them out. Really, really dope group. And it's just about being
in the zone, tunnel vision and having your blinders on."